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Student banned from campus |
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Tuesday, 24 June 2008 |
 Senior English major Matthew W. Haney looks on with Master Police Officer T.J. Proffit as Sgt. Jim Wilson examines a broken piece of the door frame from the alleged burglary at Appalachian South Apartments March 3. File Photo
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by JEFF KOEHLER
News Reporter
Matthew W. Haney, the Appalachian State University senior who falsified a report of a gunman on campus to police on March 3, causing a lockdown, received his sentence on June 10 in Watauga County District Court.
According to a copy of the court’s judgment obtained from Watauga County District Court, Haney pled guilty to falsifying a police report.
The sentence handed down requires Haney to pay $120 in court costs, $500 in fines and a community service fee of $200. He will no longer be allowed in the vicinity of the Appalachian campus, and the court required him to obtain a psychological evaluation within 60 days.
Haney must also complete 100 hours of community service.
“It’s not unusual for someone to be banned from a location where an
incident occurred,” said Investigator Matt Stevens of the Boone Police
Department, who interviewed Haney after he made the original falsified
police report.
Stevens said judgments like Haney’s campus ban are often standard for
people who are convicted of a crime attached to a specific location.
 Officers survey the grounds of the apartment of senior English major Matthew W. Haney (r) on March 3. File Photo
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He said Haney’s initial report came through 911, when Haney said there
had been a masked gunman in his apartment. Haney said the gunman had
then run toward a parking lot and buildings in the vicinity of campus.
Stevens said someone on campus then claimed she thought she saw the gunman, which resulted in the campus-wide lockdown.
“I think it really all spilled out of control,” Stevens said.
He said Haney’s last report given to the police claimed he had come home and found his door broken.
“I think he embellished the story to make it feel better, then felt
pressure that he couldn’t take it back once the investigation began,”
Stevens said.
Several Appalachian students said they felt Haney’s sentence was just.
Senior English major S. Andrew Reynolds said in his opinion, Haney’s sentence sounded fair.
“He did mess things up for a lot of people,” Reynolds said.
He said he felt Haney had plenty of opportunity to tell the truth once he saw what was going on.
“I thought the sentence was appropriate,” Katie L. Walters, a junior
public relations major said. She said the sentence would probably also
help keep Haney himself safe.
Anna E. Romano, a sophomore finance and banking major, said she agreed with the sentence.
“He did something that was not very intelligent,” Romano said. She
said the situation itself was sad because Haney had been a senior.
Erika L. Anderson, a sophomore public relations major, said she also felt the sentence was appropriate.
She said the incident had reminded her of situations like the Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University shooting and the Columbine
High School shooting.
“He was trying to cover himself,” Anderson said regarding Haney’s behavior. “This is where maturity comes in."
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